BONUS 0.20. Dialing in to Gender: Tracing Trans Internet History with Avery Dame-Griff

In this interview episode, Leigh sits down with scholar and creator of the Queer Digital History Project Avery Dame-Griff to discuss his book The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet and all it contains about the magic of the evolution of trans folks on the internet. From BBSes (bulletin board system) to Twitter, we discuss how trans people have always existed on and created their own unique spaces on the World Wide Web, tapping into Avery’s extensive research, interviews, and media archaeology.

Where to find more from Avery Dame-Griff online:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |   Download

BONUS 0.19. Classical Myths, Monsters, and Ancient Gays: A Conversation with Liz Gloyn

In this interview episode, Leigh talks with Dr. Elizabeth Gloyn, Reader in Latin Language and Literature at Royal Holloway, the University of London, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research focuses on the intersection between Latin literature, ancient philosophy, and gender studies; as well as topics of classical reception (particularly monsters) and the history of women in Classics. She is also the author of Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture.

Thanks to listener Cheryl Morgan for connecting us for this wonderful conversation on queerness in the ancient world (including adorable poly couples), what Seneca really said about the Amazons, and how fanfiction has created a unique space for queering classical monsters.

Where to find more from Liz Gloyn online:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |   Download

BONUS 0.18. Take Me Out to the Ball Gayme: Will Graham Talks A League of Their Own

Have you, like our dear host Leigh, gotten totally sucked into the amazing new Amazon Prime adaptation of A League of Their Own? Do you want to hear all about the show, its meticulous research into queer life of the 1940s and how the writers, producers, and cast opened up the scope of the movie to focus on the lives of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League’s queer players? Well then, hop in to this episode, where I’m joined by co-creator Will Graham to dive deep into A League of Their Own, early queer nightlife, the importance of representation both on and behind the camera, and what it means to be a young, queer kid who just wants to play ball and has finally found their team.

Where To Find Will Graham Online:

And for more info on A League of Their Own:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |  Download

BONUS 0.17. Dip Me In Honey & Throw Me to the Lesbians: Queer Feminist Restaurant History

Anyone remember that pin & bumper sticker with the slogan that serves as the title for this episode? Well, I hope you’re hungry, because we’re talking lesbians and food in this interview with Dr. Alex Ketchum, Director of the Just Feminist Tech and Scholarship Lab, lecturer, and author, whose work integrates food, environmental, technological, and gender history. We talk about her latest book, Ingredients for Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses, the first history of the more than 230 feminist and lesbian-feminist restaurants, cafes, and coffeehouses that existed in the United States from 1972 to the present. We dive into the ways these institutions provided spaces and community to tackle questions around the intersections between feminism, food justice, queer rights, and other social justice movements while serving as training grounds for women workers and entrepreneurs, as well as what the landscape of queer feminist restaurants looks like today.

You can order your copy of Ingredients for Revolution for 20% off (for U.S. readers) through University of Chicago Press, or through Concordia University Press for Canadian readers, and listen to the accompanying podcast, full of interviews with others in the food justice and feminism world, at TheFeministRestaurantProject.com

Where To Find Dr. Alex Ketchum Online:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |    Download

BONUS 0.16. Undoing Silence: Hugh Ryan & The Women's House of Detention

In this interview episode, Leigh sits down for a conversation with historian and writer Hugh Ryan about his landmark book The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison. The Women's House of Detention is the story of one building: the people it caged, the neighborhood it changed, and the resistance it inspired. Listen for an extremely enlightening conversation on the unlikely queer community found in a space of incarceration in the heart of New York's Greenwich Village, the ways in which the carceral state specifically targets queer women and transmasculine people, and the case for abolition as prioritizing of systems of care. 

Where To Find Hugh Ryan Online:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |  Download

BONUS 0.15. Malinda Lo and Queer YA Historical Fiction

Another interview episode for you all in the feed today, this time Leigh sat down with author Malinda Lo about her writing, her interest and research into queer history, and the trajectory of queer literature since her first published book in 2009.  Her award-winning novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a queer historical fiction coming-of-age story set in 1954 San Francisco, following Chinese-American teenager Lily Hu as she discovers her queer identity, falls in love with classmate Kath Miller, and sneaks out to the Telegraph Club, a lesbian bar humming with life and new experiences. We dive into the research and real-life queer San Francisco scene Lo explored to create the world of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, as well as her newest book, A Scatter of Light, a companion novel set against backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage.

A Scatter of Light released October 4, 2022-- go check it out!

Where To Find Malinda Lo Online:

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |    Download

BONUS 0.14. A Pod Meets BROS Love Story: Making Queer (Romcom) History!

While Leigh is working on putting together the next regular History is Gay episode for you, we've got a special treat in the form of a minisode, all about the new film BROS, making history as the first romantic comedy from a major film studio about two gay men and featuring an all LGBTQ+ principal cast! It's uproariously funny, filled with queer history tidbits, and we worked on it!

History is Gay did some research consulting for the film back in 2021 as they were building out their set design of The LGBTQIA+ Museum, which serves as backdrop for some of the film, and Leigh got a chance to sit down with three of the cast members who play board members of the museum -- Dot-Marie Jones, Academy Award winner Jim Rash, and Eve Lindley-- to talk about their roles, their own queer history knowledge, and what it meant to them to be part of this project!

BROS is out in theaters now as of September 30, 2022 -- go support the film, and keep your eyes peeled for a fun History is Gay easter egg in the film!

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |    Download

BONUS 0.13. Before We Were Trans: A Convo with Kit Heyam

For this bonus episode, Leigh sat down with Dr. Kit Heyam, university lecturer, queer history activist, and trans awareness trainer, about their new book, Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender. We talked about gender diversity throughout the world, the importance of getting into “messy” or not easily-categorized gender variance in queer history, and more!

For a full list of sources and bonus content, visit our Notes page! 

Apple Podcasts  |    Google Play    |    RadioPublic    |    Stitcher    |    Download